Homestead Case Study: Windy Corners

 Visit to Windy Corners:

On May 5^th, 2012 we visited the Windy Corners homestead in Charlotte, Vermont. http://www.windycorners.info/index.html. Wife and husband team Roel Boumans and his wife Tiny Sikkes both own the farm. Tiny and Roel have been living a sustainable homestead lifestyle for quite some time.  They are both originally from the Netherlands and the couple lived in Amsterdam during the 1980s before moving to the United States. They first moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where Tiny worked as a fieldwork lab assistant and Roel received his PhD.  They then moved to suburban Louisiana where they soon found that neighbors were less than thrilled with their backyard chicken coop. The couple then moved to Maryland where they began growing all of their own food.  Once again they found themselves living in suburbia but ultimately they decided that they needed to live somewhere else to pursue the homesteading lifestyle they desired. In 2002, they finally settled in Charlotte, Vermont where Roel could simultaneously work on the homestead with Tiny and with the University of Vermont's Gund Institute for Ecological Economics. For the past eight years Tiny and Roel have been living as homesteaders. 

Roel was gracious enough to give us a tour of Windy Corners while answering some questions about homesteading. He emphasized that he identifies as a homesteader rather than a farmer because the focus is on providing for oneself rather than for an external market. He stressed the importance of cutting money out of the equation, and how homesteading is truly the reverse of a supply and demand economy.  Roel prefers to subscribe to the "Karma Economy" where neighbors come to pick up raw milk and either drop some money in a box or use the bartering system. 

Although the "Karma Economy" sounds slightly utopian, Roel was quite pragmatic in his views on starting a homestead. He stressed that they were able to purchase the land using the funds that Roel had saved from his time as a professor. They have also been fortunate enough to have paid off their mortgage. Always thinking and planning ahead, Roel is already envisioning who will inherit the land. Although they don't have children, Roel and Tiny are much beloved by their community and have been  adopted as parental figures to many of the younger homesteaders in the area. Roel spoke about a potential "reverse mortgage" scenario, in which a young couple inherit the land through sweat equity rather than a down payment. With each passing year that they would work and live on the land, they would "own" more of  Windy Corners.
Roel also stressed the virtues of patience. He often repeated that homesteaders need to adjust or lower their expectations when starting a homesteading venture. Roel spoke about homesteaders who start with a bunch of different animals and quickly become overwhelmed because they don't know what to do with all of them. According to Roel, the key is to start small and become an expert in a particular area and then you can begin to understand how everything connects. Homesteaders, he believes, are the best systems thinkers because they have to work hard to make sure that all of the cycles are tight whether it be the nutrient cycle through grazing, growing and composting or the cycle involved in cheese-making. Homesteading is not for the weak of spirit because it requires dedication and constant hard work. As Roel stressed, “there is always something that needs to be done here at Windy Corners."

The land at Windy Corners covers fourteen acres and is not only home to Tiny and Roel but also to a number of chickens, goats, cows, bees, and a trusty Australian cattle dog. Tiny and Roel are also currently working on restoring the 200 year old foundation of a burned down farmhouse on the land. With the help of friends and family, they are finishing this ten thousand square foot straw bale house in which they plan on living. Tiny and Roel grow and harvest many vegetables and make their own wine, cheese, and yogurt, just to name a few. After the tour, Roel reminded us that there are no idle hands on a farm and he kept us busy by digging up invasive plants such as Burdock root, peeling potatoes for the Maypole celebration, and shoveling up cow-pies. We got good and dirty and our early-morning bleary eyes brightened quickly as the sun burned through the clouds and we began to break a sweat. It was lovely to be a part of the Windy Corners community, if even for a short time and we all felt inspired to come back whether it be for some raw milk, to help finish the gorgeous straw-bale house, or just to play with the adorable new kid, Ollie.